88 v4 pulls left, getting worse

[cvandiv]

my 88 (v4, auto, 154k) has always had a little pull to the left, but it's gotten worse recently. i replaced the front left axle about 4 months ago, but other than that, i haven't done any other work up there. it seems like its something an alignment just won't fix, am i right? what should i look for?

thanks!

[Tommy]

look at your control arms and the tie rods, one might be bent. wouldnt hurt to take it to a shop that can do a computerized alignment to tell you where your wheels are pointed.

btw - its an i4, not a v4.

[Mike Gerber]

Before you spend any money on the car, switch the 2 front tires with each other. You can do this yourself. If the car now pulls to the right, the tire which you just placed on the right side of the car has what is known as a radial pull. This is more common than people realize. The belts inside the tire shift to one side causing the car to pull to that side. That tire needs to be replaced. It's a good idea to at least replace tires on the same axle of the car (meaning front and back) at the same time, so you don't have 2 different tread patterns or 2 tires with different tread depths. This can cause some unusual handling problems.

If the pull is still to the left after switching the 2 front tires, then follow Tommy's advice.

Mike

[Doctor J]

If the tire already worn unevenly on one side only, the pull direction would also reverse.
If the control arm bushing is worn, the alignment will not help. On the other hand, once arms and ball joints are replaced, and nobody tried to "adjust" alignment in order to compensate or cover-up, then after replacement the alignment re-setting is seldom needed.

[marc780]

Mikes got some good ideas and thats how i always have to fix mine, swap tires until i find a pair the car likes.
Another possibility is that your left disk brake caliper is sticking. Next time you inspect the brakes, the pad wear will tell the tale - if the pads are worn evenly on both sides, then the calipers are fine. If the left side pads are worn more, replace/rebuild caliper.